Fatima Bhutto talks about her New Novel

Ms Fatima Bhtto in conversation with Penguin Books spoke about her latest novel The Runways. The novel is set in the slums of Karachi and tells a story of young girl Anita. Penguin asked Ms. Bhutto on micro blogging site twitter:

"One final question from us @fbhutto: What was the one big challenge you faced while writing the three main characters? And what was you most treasured moment with them? (or each one of them, if there were separate moments) #TheRunaways."

Ms. Bhutto replied:

"I thought a lot about empathy while writing The Runaways - how you can empathise with someone on a human level while disagreeing very strongly with their actions and their impulses. It's something we seem to have forgotten how to do in politics across the world."

What is The Runways About?

Anita lives in Karachi's biggest slum. Her mother is a maalish wali, paid to massage the tired bones of rich women. But Anita's life will change forever when she meets her elderly neighbour, a man whose shelves of books promise an escape to a different world.

On the other side of Karachi lives Monty, whose father owns half the city and expects great things of him. But when a beautiful and rebellious girl joins his school, Monty will find his life going in a very different direction.

Sunny's father left India and went to England to give his son the opportunities he never had. Yet Sunny doesn't fit in anywhere. It's only when his charismatic cousin comes back into his life that he realises his life could hold more possibilities than he ever imagined.

These three lives will cross in the desert, a place where life and death walk hand in hand, and where their closely guarded secrets will force them to make a terrible choice.

Ms. Bhutto has also authored five books including Songs of Blood and Sword, The Shadow of Crescent Moon, Whispers of the Desert, Stories of Hope and Courage and Democracy.